Cops block off Queens Midtown Tunnel to stop fleeing drug dealers before cuffing them at gunpoint in tube

Officers were seen running through the tunnel, ordering two men inside the luxury car to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint moments after the car raced into the tube. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News)

Police barricaded the Queens Midtown Tunnel with their squad cars as they arrested a pair of drug dealers during a harrowing scene in the Manhattan-bound tube, authorities said Friday.

A Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority cop was nearly dragged by the alleged dealers as they gunned the engine of their Mercedes Benz E-class and raced into the Queens side of the tunnel about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

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Moments later, officers were seen running through the tunnel, ordering two men inside the luxury car to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint.

TBTA Police Officer Reginald Ledee had stopped the Mercedes on the Queens side of the tunnel for having no front license plate and illegally tinted windows.

As Ledee approached, he looked through the open passenger-side window and saw a bag of marijuana on the center console, law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case said.

When Ledee ordered the men out of the car, they tried to put the contraband in the glove box, sources said.

The driver then locked the door and gunned the engine — but forgot that the car was still in park.

Ledee, who had his hand on the door handle, stepped back as the driver threw the car into drive and raced into the tunnel.

Cops alerted at the other end of the tunnel blocked the exit with their squad cars, bringing traffic inside the tube to a standstill.

Ledee and Sgt. Frank Burgos drove after the Mercedes, then got out of their vehicles while inside the tunnel, stunning motorists waiting in the traffic snarl.

With weapons drawn, the two cops and a New York State trooper ordered driver Javon Harrington, 21, and passenger Taj Wilson, 19, to get out of their car and lie on the tunnel floor.

Police recovered marijuana, as well as some crack the pair were feverishly trying to dissolve into a bottle of raspberry peach Snapple, officials said.

Cops also recovered $2,300 in cash from the car, as well as five cellphones.

Harrington and Wilson were charged with drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest.

Harrington, a registered sex offender who had been arrested for vehicular assault in the past, was also charged with driving without a license.

Their arraignment was pending Friday.

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This is the second arrest in a week for Ledee, who last Friday arrested a disgraced New Mexico state police officer who tried to pass himself off as a cop after a gun was found in his pickup truck, cops said.